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About Foundations Community Partnership Doylestown, PA (June 28, 2010) - Foundations Community Partnership announces its support of 11 Bucks County non-profit organizations through its Capital Grant and Bucks Innovation and Improvement (BIIG) Grant programs. As part of its mission to assist those most in need, Foundations Community Partnership's Board of Directors has approved $92,500 in grants to help 11 Bucks County non-profits and the families they serve. Foundations Community Partnership awarded a $10,000 Capital Grant to the Central Bucks School District, Autism Support Program to help students with autism capitalize on their strengths by using a variety of technological devices, such as the iPod touch, Smart Boards, and video recorders. The technology will be used to improve the lives of young people with autism by enhancing their ability to participate in instructional activities, encourage expanded expressive communication and increase their independence. "We applaud and support the Bucks Central School District's Autism Support Program for students with autism with the academic and problem-solving skills essential for personal development, responsible citizenship, and life-long learning," said Ron Bernstein, Executive Director, Foundations Community Partnership. "They are helping autistic students to become self-directed learners who can reason, reflect, make decisions, and solve problems." Foundations Community Partnership's Bucks Innovation and Improvement (BIIG) Grants are offered on a competitive basis to non-profit human services organizations providing services to children and youth in Bucks County. BIIG grants of $82,500 were awarded to 10 eligible grant applicants who will be developing innovative ideas and improving the quality of life for children, youth, and families in Bucks County. BIIG Grantees included: Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Inc., New Britain Township ($7,500 award) - Aark will use the grant to support "Camperships" to disadvantaged and special needs Bucks County children and youth so they can participate in the Aark Summer Camp program, and to increase education efforts for adolescents with special needs and behavioral health problems in Bucks County. The camp helps children show compassion for injured animals, work with them to heal the animals, and helps them translate this lesson to show compassion for people in the community. Bucks Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, Doylestown ($7,500 award) - They will use the grant to support the Lead On! youth leadership development and empowerment conference, a countywide event open to all Bucks County students from grades 6-12. At the conference, youth leaders converge to share ideas, gain awareness about teen-relevant topics, and learn prevention strategies to implement in their schools. Central Bucks Family YMCA, Doylestown ($7,500 award) -The grant will be used to incorporate after school programming into the Central Bucks Family YMCA's STARS (Sharing and Teaching for all Abilities to Realize Self-Strengths) program, which offers adapted physical activities that reach out to special needs populations and their families, regardless of physical, mental or behavioral disability. Comprehensive Learning Center, Southampton ($10,000 award) - The grant will provide funding for 21 students to attend the Comprehensive Learning Center's Readiness for Life Program, which helps prepare students with autism for meaningful living and to perform tasks without adult intervention, to actively participate in home, family and community activities, and demonstrate the independence required for work upon reaching adulthood. Community Conservatory of Bucks County, Doylestown ($10,000 award) - The Community Conservatory's Neighborhood Notes program is a unique peer-mentoring, arts education outreach program for disadvantaged and special needs children in Bucks County. The grant will help them expand their services to at-risk children in Bristol Township, recruit teenagers as student teachers from Bristol Township and surrounding areas, and expand programming in Plumstead Township. Links Inc., Doylestown ($7,500 award) - Links Inc. will use the grant to support their "Keeping it Real" 2011 annual conference, an annual free Youth Leadership Institute for high school students that addresses concerns such as bullying, drugs, youth violence cliques and prejudice. The conference promotes leadership skills for minority and other high school students to help disadvantaged and high-risk adolescents avoid behavioral health problems and find viable and workable solutions to those issues. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown ($5,000 award) - The Michener will use the grant to expand their "Breaking Boundaries" program into Upper Bucks County. It provides quality artistic and cultural opportunities to the underserved youth of Bucks. The "Breaking Boundaries North" program will plan experiences for students throughout the school year, as well expanding the disciplines of poetry, storytelling, visual arts, and non-verbal emotional expression with a focus on leadership, self-esteem, personal identity, and creative problem solving. Neighborhood First, Bristol ($10,000 award) - The Neighborhood First Program offers intensive prevention and intervention services to the at-risk and underserved youth of Bucks County utilizing a strength based and community collaborative/ outreach approach. The grant will enable the Homework Athletics Values Education Network (H.A.V.E.N.) program to expand its summer, after school and Saturday programming, provide continuity of services and prevent recidivism. Vita Education Services, Doylestown/Bensalem ($7,500 award) - Vita will use the grant to support Decisions for Teens (DFT), a cognitively-based program that teaches a process for making decisions in real life situations. This program helps at-risk adolescents learn that they do have control over their situations and can assume responsibility for their actions. YWCA Bucks County, Trevose ($10,000 award) - The grant will introduce high-quality, evidenced-based educational enrichment programming at six YWCA Summer Camps to enhance individual student development, build strong bridges to students' success in school, help them develop the essential skills necessary for productive and rewarding lives, and curb negative behaviors that impede academic and social development. Foundations Community Partnership is a private non-profit operating foundation that supports behavioral health education and research, provides grants for non-profit organizations, awards scholarships to Bucks County high school seniors, subsidizes service learning internships for college students and underwrites community education programs. To learn more about FCP and its mission please visit their website at www.fcpartnership.org or contact them at 267-247-5584. ### |
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